The city finally gave Parks her due in a 90-minute ceremony as they unveiled the edifice at the entrance of a city park named for her under a cloud of controversy 9 1/2 years ago.

Mounted on a black marble pedestal, the bronze statue depicts Parks standing resolutely in front of the famous metal-framed bus seat she refused to give up to a white man in Montgomery, Ala. in 1959.

Her quiet protest and the success of a 381-day bus strike that ensued energized and inspired the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

"Basically, its says to me, I'm tired of being tired. I'm going to sit down anyway," said 17-year-old Javrea Davis, a Creston High School senior who attended the unveiling.

"It's very emotional for me," said Tonja Lofton, a 34-year-old Hudsonville resident. "I'm hoping this statue will bring this community together."

Nikkul Foster, 41, said the statue will inspire her to speak out. "I feel like I'm living her dream because I speak out a lot. Her blood must be running through me right now."

"This is a moment where my heart beats faster," said Armand Robinson, head of the committee that raised the money for the statue and commissioned the work by sculptor Ed Dwight.

Robinson said Thursday's ceremony took him back to 1968, when Robert Kennedy led a rally on same corner during a presidential campaign cut short by his assassination.

"That was something almost happened," Robinson said. "This is something that has happened."

Dwight, whose Texas studio has completed more than 100 public monuments, said he was criticized by some for portraying Parks as standing when she became famous for refusing to get out of her bus seat.

The sculptor said he wanted Parks to be triumphant in her pose. " If you're standing straight, a man can't ride your back," said Dwight, quoting the late Rev. Martin Luther King.

Dwight also noted Parks will stand across the street from a statue of Arthur Vandenberg, the Grand Rapids-born U.S. Senator who was instrumental in organizing the United Nations.

"I wanted her to be equal to that," he said.

Throughout the 90-minute dedication ceremony, there was little mention of the controversy that flared up in May, 2001 when city commissioners voted 4-3 to name the park in her honor.

Maya Lin, the park's designer, designed the $6 million park to mimic the region's water resources in three forms: liquid, solid and vapor. A mayoral naming committee had boiled its recommendation down to four choices: Owashtanong Park, Reflections Park and Campau Square or Campau Circle.

Parks, then a resident of Detroit, had never visited Grand Rapids. But commissioners who favored the name said they wanted to dedicate the park to an iconic figure known for her courage and dedication to equal rights.

Though Parks' name could be found on a plaque at the park, Robinson said the statue and Thursday's 90-minute dedication ceremony completes the honor. "I'm on Cloud Nine," he said.

Area educators said they will continue the city's tribute by announcing an essay contest on Parks' legacy for students between the 8th and 12th grades. The winning essayist will be awarded $500 with $300 and $200 prizes going to the second and third place essays.